Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Common Mistakes Stagnating Your Affiliate Program’s Growth

Presented by: Geno Prussakov

CEO, AM Navigator LLCaffiliate program management, audit & consulting

URL: www.amnavigator.com

Tel.: (+1) 888-588-8866

Email: geno@amnavigator.com

.

Using Good Building Material?

Afraid to Get Hands Dirty?

Outline

1. Merchant essentials (7)

2. Management components (7)

Merchant Essentials

1. Leak-free website

Leaks - Definition

Leaks – external links within your website that lead to sites which do not credit your affiliates for the work they perform.

Leaks - Types

1. Telephone number / Live chat

2. AdSense units

3. Amazon widgets

4. Links to “network” stores/sites

5. Affiliate links & links to other merchants

Leaks – Example (type 1)Telephone Number

Leaks – Example (type 1)Live Chat

Leaks – Example (type 2)

AdSense (Google ads)

Leaks – Example (type 3)

Amazonwidgets

Leaks – Example (type 4)Links to

“network”stores/sites

Leaks – Example (type 5)

Affiliate& other links

1. Leak-free website

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

Don’t confuse with affiliate network’s agreement!

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

Merchant naïvete -- loss of defensive behaviors and adaptations needed to deal with “predators”

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

Program agreement

What to Cover?• Coupon & discounts policy• Trademark policy• Policies on loyalty affiliates• Disclosure recommendation

Program agreementWhat to Cover?

• Coupon & discounts policy• Trademark policy• Policies on loyalty affiliates• Disclosure recommendation

How to Word It?1. Foreword2. Summary3. Agreement itself

Program agreementWhat to Cover?

• Coupon & discounts policy• Trademark policy• Policies on loyalty affiliates• Disclosure recommendation

How to Word It?1. Foreword2. Summary3. Agreement itself

“How often do you read TOS?”

Program agreement

Get your free sample:

www.AMNavigator.com/TOS.html

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

3. Dedicated landing pages

Dedicated Landing PagesWe’ve analyzed 50 randomly selected merchants

(from Internet Retailer Top 500 list) on 3 major affiliate networks (CJ, LinkShare, GAN)…

Dedicated Landing Pages

4 Points to Cover:

1. Reinforce promo/campaign's details

2. Provide detailed instructions (if customer needs to do something)

3. Spell out any restrictions

4. Have clear calls to action

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

3. Dedicated landing pages

4. Competitive commission

…and performance incentives too!

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

3. Dedicated landing pages

4. Commission

5. Fair cookie life

Short Cookie Life5 hours or under

•Sephora.com (4 hrs)•Toys R Us, Babies R Us•eToys.com•Miles Kimball Company•ShopNBC.com

12-24 hours

•Nordstrom.com (12 hrs)•Enterprise.com (23 hrs)•Chase.com (23 hrs)•Amazon (24 hrs)

3 Days

•Apple iTunes•Champs Sports•Dell•ESPN Shop•Foot Locker•Walmart

Return Days Analysis

Cookie Retention Data

1 day – 85%

2 days – 75%

3 days – 70%

4 days – 63%

45 days ~ 50%

340 days ~ 20%

Source: Web Analytics Analyzedblog by Paul Strupp

at blogs.sun.com

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

3. Dedicated landing pages

4. Competitive commission

5. Fair cookie life

6. Safeguarding tracking code

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

3. Dedicated landing pages

4. Competitive commission

5. Fair cookie life

6. Tracking code

7. Advance notifications

Notify affiliates at least one month

in advance

Management Components

1. Managing affiliates

1. Managing affiliates

… when, in reality:

we’re notaffiliate managers

but affiliate program managers

1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police compliance

Monitor Trademark Use

In Paid Search Campaigns:

• iTrademarkBidding – www.itrademarkbidding.com• Brandverity PoachMark – brandverity.com/poachmark• SearchMonitor – thesearchmonitor.com/affiliate_monitor• AdGooroo Trademark Insight – www.adgooroo.com

In Domain Names:

• CitizenHawk – www.citizenhawk.com.

1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police compliance

3. Approval email

1. Managing affiliates2. Failing to police compliance3. Approval email

Pattern to Follow1. Remind them of your program details 2. Include an activation promo3. Enclose performance-based incentive4. Pre-coded affiliate links (incl. coupons, feed, etc) 5. Detailed contact information

Create a Sense of Urgency!

“What’s the maximum acceptable affiliate program application response time?”

1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police compliance

3. Approval email

4. Hard-to-reach goals

1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police compliance

3. Approval email

4. Hard-to-reach goals

aka performance-based incentives

Unrealistic/Demotivating Goals

Important details: AOV ~$650 So, for 0.5% increase - 31 orders/mo …and for 1% bump - 91 such orders

Swimmer (illustration)

1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police compliance

3. Approval email

4. Hard-to-reach goals

5. Commission drops

Commission Drops

Commission Drops

As a valued [Merchant Name] affiliate partner, I wanted to let you know that we are currently working to make our program, and our partnerships, as successful as possible.

In order to continue to support the success of our current partnership we are unable to continue to offer you a flat 4% commission on all goods. Starting at the end of February, our new offer will be lowered to 1.5% on all goods.

Commission Drops

1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police compliance

3. Approval email

4. Hard-to-reach goals

5. Commission drops

6. Split-testing of landing pages

A/B Split-Testing

What to Test?

• Headlines• Calls to action• Page style & layout• Images• Descriptive copy• Pricing & promos

A/B Split-Testing

What to Test?

• Headlines• Calls to action• Page style & layout• Images• Descriptive copy• Pricing & promos

Tools to Employ

• Google Website Optimizer• Visual Website Optimizer• LiveBall• A/Bingo• PickFu• Vertster• Unbounce• Sitespect's A/B Testing• Five Second Test• Vanity

1. Managing affiliates2. Failing to police compliance3. Approval email4. Hard-to-reach goals5. Commission drops6. Split-testing of landing pages7. Proactive management

Proactive Management

Proactive – “Acting in anticipation of future problems, needs, or changes” (Webster's Dictionary)

Thank you!

Got questions?

Merchant Manager

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

3. Dedicated landing pages

4. Competitive commission

5. Fair cookie life

6. Safeguarding tracking code

7. Advance notifications

1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police

3. Approval email

4. Hard-to-reach goals

5. Commission drops

6. Split-testing of landing pages

7. Proactive management

Got questions?

Merchant Manager

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

3. Dedicated landing pages

4. Competitive commission

5. Fair cookie life

6. Safeguarding tracking code

7. Advance notifications

1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police

3. Approval email

4. Hard-to-reach goals

5. Commission drops

6. Split-testing of landing pages

7. Proactive management

www.amnavigator.com/blog | 1-888-588-8866 | geno@amnavigator.com